An active approach to plane geometry in primary school

Abstract

The article describes a teaching experience, carried out in a 5th grade class of primary school. The aim of the activity was to propose a working method which could enable students to activate their cognitive potentialities when facing geometrical situations in which they were asked to plan how to calculate unknown areas of geometric figures. Such situations are often proposed in static terms, through frontal lessons in which the students' task is to learn how to use formulas. The proposed tasks highlighted how tight is the relationship between the language and the iconic and figural aspects and how this can be object of discussion with the students. While the discussion highlighted several different approaches to the involved meanings, coping with the proposed situations and interacting with peers seems to have increased the students' awareness about the meaning of areas calculation rules.